Joint bodies of this type are known from the prior art and disclosed, for example, in German Laid-Open Application DE 37 34 089 A1. This document describes in the introductory part of the description an elastic joint body, in which collars are pressed on in the axial direction for the axial support of the loop bundles. The collars have an L-shaped profile and by pressing them onto in each case one bushing end are connected to the bushing in an axially non-displaceable and rotationally fixed manner. Between the individual loop bundles which loop around the bushings, supporting elements are arranged for the axial guidance of the loop bundles around the bushings. Both the L-shaped collars and the supporting elements are encased with a rubber layer during a vulcanisation process.
In the operation of the joint body, owing to cardanic stresses or bending stresses, tears can occur at the surface of or in the rubber-elastic casing in the region of an encircling outer edge of the L-shaped collars.
On the mounting of the joint bodies with such collar elements in a drive train of a motor vehicle, the torque required for the screwing-on can, furthermore, be trans-mitted to the collars, with the result that these collars are rotated relative to the attached rubber mass. As a result, tears can likewise occur at the surface of the rubber-elastic casing due to its attachment to the collars. Such tears in the rubber-elastic casing which may arise in the operation or even during the mounting have an adverse effect on service life of the joint body.
Besides the above-described collar elements, ring plates which are riveted to the bushings are also known from the prior art for the axial support of the loop bundles of an elastic joint body from the prior art. With these ring plates, it can happen that during the production process or the vulcanisation process the rubber flows onto the ring plates and adheres thereto. A time-consuming and costly cleaning operation therefore has to be included in the production process in order to clean the ring plates again.
Furthermore, in the development of such joint bodies, efforts are also being directed towards designing the joint bodies with regard to the increasing mechanical loads due to the continually rising engine outputs and towards further increasing their service life.